A cryofuge for cold-collision experiments with slow polar molecules

Abstract

Ultracold molecules represent a fascinating research frontier in physics and chemistry, but it has proven challenging to prepare dense samples at low velocities. Here we present a solution to this goal by a non-conventional approach dubbed cryofuge. It employs centrifugal force to bring cryogenically cooled molecules to kinetic energies below $1\,$K$\times k_B$ in the laboratory frame, with corresponding fluxes exceeding $10^{10}$/s at velocities below $20\,$m/s. By attaining densities higher than $10^9$/cm$^3$ and interaction times longer than $25\,$ms in samples of fluoromethane as well as deuterated ammonia, we observe cold dipolar collisions between molecules and determine their collision cross sections.